


Birds and Boats

by denytheworld



Series: music + kiliel [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Songfic and hopefully not cliche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 17:11:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denytheworld/pseuds/denytheworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story of Kili and Tauriel based on the song Birds and Boats by Gregory and the Hawk. </p><p>If you'll be my star<br/>I'll be your sky<br/>You can hide underneath me and come out at night<br/>When I turn jet black<br/>And you show off your light<br/>I live to let you shine </p><p>I heard it while studying and it screamed Kili/Tauriel at me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birds and Boats

**Author's Note:**

> SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz5H3iVjAlw 
> 
> Unedited since it's 2 AM.

_If you'll be my star_

_I'll be your sky_

_You can hide underneath me and come out at night_

 

They made an odd pair, Kili knows. He may be in love, but he's not so far gone to indulge in naivety. They were off balance and awkward in ways their people tried not to think on. Their love was a dirty thing, to be hidden away and lamented. He'd seen the look of pure desolation on his mother's face and the hour-long fit of rage his uncle threw had the entire mountain trembling. In the quiet hours, he could still hear it.

 

            _Abandon her_ , they'd begged and pleaded, _It is a passing attraction._

 

He didn't. It wasn't possible when he'd already cleaved to her. His love was hers, his devotion and his life - his entirety. A dwarf's love was not given freely for they guarded their hearts with as much jealousy as they did the secrets of their trade, their Maker's language and their true-names. Besides, she was hardly an _elf._ Tauriel would be cross to hear him say such things, for she certainly was an elf to her.

 

            But what elf would say, _Why not?_ \- when asked to leave her beloved forests?

            But what elf would say, _I can -_ when asked to live underneath a mountain?

 

She shows the nerve and steadfast determination of a dwarf. No one likes her here in his uncle's kingdom. It would be considered a good day if Thorin even nods at her, prickly and lips thin with distaste. Kili tries to put himself between them as much as possible but even he couldn't fight off a literal mountain of disapproving dwarves. He can't stop the conversations and he can't stop the looks. He's completely impotent when he should be strong - a _Prince_. A Prince wouldn't let his own wife be derided by his people. A Prince didn't have to cry and have his wife comfort him, when _she_ was the one to be wronged so unfairly.

 

 _I had sworn to protect you_.

            _I had promised you happiness._

 

He'd never felt so small, nothing like the vast sky she sits beneath every night. She was his star - warm and kind, ever present and a guiding light. He was _supposed_  to be her sky, like the stories of _her_ people. A backdrop to set off her beauty, he was not. He felt more like a pair of shackles, keeping her in a place she ought not be, should not be and would not be if not for his own foolish selfishness. 

           

_When I turn jet black_

_And you show off your light_

_I live to let you shine_

 

Tauriel was an ugly thing - hair as red as spilt blood, a chin that was far too sharp and a tongue sharper still. In Mirkwood, she had used these traits to her advantage. Her red hair was a beacon for her men - while sharp elven eyes rarely missed anything, her hair made her even more distinguishable, useful in the foray. Her chin was sharp and she raised it proudly and plied her sharper tongue in debates and war council (rare as they were). She was ugly but useful and in the end, that had made her appealing.

 

Here in Erebor, her one sole purpose was to be happy. She wanted to live happily with Kili, the young dwarf who'd spoken about beautiful _red_ moons and cold starlight. Things were not good here, she was never taught that secret language of her husband's people but an insult was an insult, no matter the language. Her ears were still sharp, sharp like her eyes, her chin and her tongue. She tries so hard to be happy - if not for her own sake, then for Kili's.

 

Some days, she pretends to be Legolas - serene and unflappable. Others, she pretends to be Thranduil, her former liege who cared very little about what others thought and even less about what they thought of _him_. She gets so good at it that she believes her untouchable, until Kili cries into her lap and regrets ever bringing her here. He'd never say such a thing but she could tell.

 

            _Perhaps, we could live at Mirkwood, my star?_

It had been a joking question, one evening as they sat together. But the more he thought about it, the joking gleam left his eyes and the teasing tilt of his lips gave way to a solemn, considering frown. The question had turned her blood cold - Erebor may hate her but Mirkwood was no place for them. In many ways, the forests she so loved was forever lost to her.

 

            _We're not happy, are we?_

 

When the only answer Kili could give her was, "It could be worse." She knew something was to be done. He catches her packing their bags that evening and the look on his face broke her heart as well. There was no anger on that slim, open face of his - only _acceptance_. And that hurt her more than a thousand arrows could.

 

Tauriel raises her chin then and steadies her smile, "We're going on a trip."

 

_But you can skyrocket away from me_

_And never come back if you find another galaxy_

_Far from here with more room to fly_

_Just leave me your stardust to remember you by_

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He chants into her embrace. "I shouldn't have, I know. I know."

 

When news of their plans got out, things turned from bad to worse. How dare she lead him out from the mountain? What foolish nonsense! A dwarf belongs in the shadow of a good, solid mountain. His home was Erebor and if the she-elf wanted to leave, then she was free to do so! An elf-plot, that was what it was. Horrible, conniving and wretched, she was luring him away from his family. It left a bitter-sour taste in his mouth, to realize within himself, he wanted to go. He wanted to be _away_ with no one but Tauriel and a good sturdy bow in hand.

 

_If you'll be my boat_

_I'll be your sea_

_A depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity_

 

They had no plans and no intentions on returning to Erebor any time soon. Loaded down with supplies and a _healthy_ amount of gold (though Tauriel called it excessive), the two of them set off with only Fili to wave farewell at the front gates. They stop by Dale for a few days as guests of Bard's. Tauriel proved to be an excellent match for Bard's own stinging comments as they sparred verbally. Tauriel calls it conversation but Kili knows a battle when he sees one, though the two of them barely raise their voices above a pleasant murmur and always finish with smiles.

 

He sees the life and light again and he's smiling too.

 

They pick their next destination by the silliest way possible. She spins him blindfolded until he can barely point at his feet and the direction he points to is the direction they'll go. "Is this how all elves find their way?" He jokes, and it feels good, to joke about elves without any heat behind his words or horrible subtext to wade through. It feels good to joke again.

 

Her hands are still holding him gently by the shoulders though he'd long since stopped spinning. "Only the most esteemed elves do." She says in reply and her tone certainly was haughty enough. She would never have done this in the mountain, where others would hear her feigned haughtiness and cut her with words. She was safe here and Kili laughs again.

 

He takes off his blindfold with one hand, keeping his other limb outstretched. They were headed West. She cuffs him when he suggests paying a visit to Mirkwood and setting up in his old jail cell. Maybe this time, she could do her duty and frisk him. Kili laughs harder for it.

 

_Ebbing and flowing_

_And pushed by a breeze_

_I live to make you free_

 

They're gone for many seasons, so many that he'd lost count. But they had been away for so long even their _healthy_ amount of gold had run out and had to be replenished. They hunted and slept beneath the stars, in human towns and old ruins and just about anywhere convenient. Some of those places were not particularly safe, hygienic or friendly - but Tauriel would smile and say, like she used to, _Why not?_

 

            _Why not, indeed?_

 

"It's about time I take you on an adventure, anyway." Kili brushes off her suggestion that they head back, back in the direction of Erebor. "A _thousand_ years old and you haven't stepped foot outside of Mirkwood until you met this handsome dwarf prince, oh what was his name again?"

 

"I'm _only_ six hundred and - " Tauriel starts at the teasing, her eyes flashing dangerously but she's still smiling. She couldn't help it, he always brings out contrary reactions in her and it drives her spare.

 

"It matters not if you're old as old King Thranduil himself or only old as an Ent, you're still lovely." Kili interrupts, though he haven't a clue which was older. "Let's enjoy ourselves a little longer. The mountain won't suddenly resettle somewhere else."

 

They return, eventually, with very little fanfare and settle into their old apartments. It seems the people of Erebor had learned to watch their tongues or perhaps their decade long absence - they hadn't even realized they'd been gone a _decade_! - had been warning enough. No one wanted Kili gone for another decade ( _or two_ , as Kili liked to tease). The mountain was not as oppressive.

 

_But you can set sail to the west if you want to_

_And pass the horizon, 'til I can't even see you_

_Far from here_

 

To Tauriel, a hundred years was a blink of her eye. So three centuries were three - quick and thoughtlessly done with. She hadn't even realized things were changing and _time_ was stealing Kili away from her, bit by bit, until one day, Kili falls ill.

 

And stays ill.

 

He'd gotten to a fine old age, for _dwarves_ anyway. Kili was a dwarf and they were sturdy, Tauriel tries to reassure herself, they were sturdy and strong and Kili would be well, as he ought to be. He didn't recover for the longest time and as the days dragged on into weeks which quickly blended into months, Kili had only grown slighter in their bed. "Go to the West, ride off on those fancy little boats of yours." He'd suggested, looking at his hands but speaking to her. She was appalled at the very thought of it. She was _not_ going to be sent away from him.

 

"I'm... You're _not_ dead." I'm not going to _fade_ , she had wanted to say. But she couldn't guarantee it and saying anything of which she was not completely certain of to her husband was unfathomable. She'd not make liars of them both - her for believing it and him for pretending to believe her.

 

"I'll be soon and I _don't_ want you to follow me," Kili snapped and a flood of warm affection washed over her. On his deathbed and he was still worrying over _her_. "Only stupid creatures do something so foolish as to _fade_. You're a delicate, soft folk - worse than _Hobbits_ , that's what. Prick a finger and off you go _fading_."

 

He was cross but she could see the anger and weariness and worry and just - how she wished she could turn back time. How she wished she could do something to comfort him. "If I'm so stupid," Tauriel replies, her voice too shaky to sound even slightly waspish. "Why did you marry me?"

 

"Well," Kili drawls out, sounding as young as he did three centuries ago, "You _are_ rather pretty."

 

"And the truth comes out."

 

He winks at her and they're giggling like children. 

 

_If you'll be my star_

_I'll be your sky_

_You can hide underneath me and come out at night_

 


End file.
